An organization’s ability to remain focused and cohesive during social distancing is essential for its success. To do so, Newcastle Limited chose to harness the power of software that fills gaps created by social distancing, offering tools for collaboration, communication, and productivity. Pre-pandemic business as usual Newcastle Limited is a Chicago-based real estate investment firm specializing in commercial and residential properties. Its localized portfolio consists of 42 residential properties totaling 2,875 units and 55 retail properties with 140 tenants. To support those clients, Newcastle Limited employs 150 staff members, 54 of which operate from the corporate office. Mike Haney, Newcastle Limited CEO, consistently prioritizes the professional development of his team. Prior to the pandemic, the organization implemented Newcastle University via Yardi eLearning for onboarding, training, continuing education and professional development. Once restructured as Yardi Aspire, the additional features within the software gave new life to Haney’s initiative. Newcastle Limited implemented Aspire at the end of February, and timing couldn’t have been better. The organization had the opportunity to familiarize itself with the revised University before the pandemic encouraged social distancing nationwide. Through Aspire, Newcastle Limited has been able to maintain its focus on professional development in the face of unprecedented change. Aspire: working together, separately In response to social distancing, Newcastle Limited shifted most of its workforce to a remote environment. The real estate investment firm relied on Yardi Aspire to keep the team connected and in sync. Its online learning environment includes communication tools, collaboration opportunities and training event management. Aspire has proven to be a single solution for Newcastle’s remote work needs. Get 6 Pro Tips for Stellar Remote Work Aspire is the only training solution on the market that enables clients to automatically distribute role-based learning plans that cover multiple competency areas including property management software skills, mandatory compliance, company policies, safety, leasing and procedures. At Newcastle Limited, Aspire has helped management better understand the needs, strengths, and opportunities of its employees as they work and learn outside of the office. “We are using the platform for compliance-related initiatives such as policy and procedure updates. This way, we can track who has taken and acknowledged policies,” says Jennifer Smetana, director of learning and development at Newcastle Limited. Scoring measures within the software also provide managers with insights into areas that may need review and further clarification. Additional features have improved the way that Newcastle Limited stays organized and connected with remote employees. “The learning plans and our dynamic ownership for grouping and reporting purposes have had a major impact,” says Smetana. “We also started using the resource containers to house quick guides, article of the week, and the additional links to pages we use often. Everything is quickly accessible in one place so that we stay efficient and organized.” Teamwork, virtual watercoolers and camaraderie During social distancing, the communication and collaboration tools within Aspire demonstrated their value to Newcastle Limited. “We have taken an employee engagement approach to the platform,” she says. “We launched engagement events such as virtual coffee breaks, contests, games and Wednesdays by the Watercooler to keep our team members connected.” Wednesdays by the Watercooler is a casual event where employees are encouraged to log on together and share in a virtual break. “We connect, tell jokes and do silly activities to stay united,” smiles Smetana. “I feel that Aspire has helped our organization move forward and continue growing. The platform is the foundation for staying connected and has aided in keeping our team members working while being remote,” says Smetana. Join a webinar to discover how Aspire, formerly eLearning, can support your organization during social distancing and beyond....
Sustainable Training
Yardi eLearning
Do you find that your internal staff training program lacks engagement or consistency? Yardi eLearning’s featured topic for this month focuses on creating effective and sustainable training programs for busy real estate companies. Take the pressure off of your training team with these best practices. The Balance Sheet caught up with Michael Joiner of Yardi eLearning’s client services team to get the inside scoop on what this valuable training platform has to offer. What does it mean to have an Effective and Sustainable Training Program? Joiner: An effective training program is one that meets the training needs of a company. A sustainable training program requires a balance between the administrative tasks—like scheduling training, assigning courses, communicating between instructors and students, validating student work, running reports—and maintaining existing training with the development of new training that meets additional needs of the company and its employees. What’s one common hurdle that keeps clients’ training programs from being effective? Joiner: Not identifying the needs of the learners. For instance, you can assign a ton a courses, but do those courses help bridge a skills gap or correct a behavior? Ineffective training programs assign courses for the sake of assigning content that someone thinks is necessary, but it may not be relevant or applicable to an individual. What’s one common hurdle that keeps clients’ training programs from being sustainable? Joiner: Focusing too much on developing new training and letting existing training become out dated. Out-of-date training leads to a lack of engagement and trust on the part of the learner. A sustainable training program creates new training initiatives while regularly updating existing content. How can users access this information after the webinar? Joiner: We’re teaching this class at YASC Washington, D.C. May 30- June 1, 2018. We’ll also be...
Remote Yardi Training...
Brindley & Associates
According to the Association for Talent Development, American organizations spend an estimated $164 billion on employee training on each year. This ranges from 31.5 -56 hours of training per employee. This valuable time is spent simply learning how to optimize performance rather than putting those plans into action. Yardi client Brindley & Associates has cut those costs with the use of one, simple software solution. Accountant Carol Vandenberghe has worked with Brindley and Associates for thirteen years. Overtime, she has seen the company grow its presence in the southeast. To meet it’s more sophisticated needs, the firm recently upgraded to Voyager 7S. The combination of expansion and new software required a more efficient way to pursue employee training. “That was the main reason why we got eLearning,” begins Vandenberghe. “It really helped with the transition, plus we had just hired new employees as well.” Yardi eLearning has helped Brindley and Associates significantly cut costs on employee education and get the most out of Voyager upgrade. “We have so many properties in outlying areas,” Vandenberghe says. “Some of those properties are four hours away. It would take at least eight hours for the property managers to drive back and forth for training. Then to come by the office and have to sit there for two, eight hour days, maybe more.” Those hours are just a portion of the resources wasted on onsite training. “Training event preparation requires a lot of planning. I figure 40-50 hours. That’s an entire week right there,” Vandenberghe says. “Then we have to bring in all of the property managers, pay for their food and hotel, that kind of thing. Plus, it’s inconvenient for the property managers to have to leave when they’ve got tenants coming in to make payments. The...
